


Words

by Phoenixofslytherin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Healing, Helping Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, getting over the past, happy ever after, past trauma, trigger warnings apply!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:01:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenixofslytherin/pseuds/Phoenixofslytherin
Summary: Written for Sing me a Rare: The UK InvasionMuch love to my alpha/beta who shall remain nameless until after the fest is complete.Song Prompt - Words - Boyzone.Pairing - Ginny Weasley/Vincent Crabbe.Anarchy Round Assignment - Head Boy/Girl.
Relationships: Ginny Weasley/Vincent Crabbe
Comments: 34
Kudos: 27
Collections: Sing Me a Rare: UK Invasion!





	Words

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sing me a Rare: The UK Invasion  
> Much love to my alpha/beta who shall remain nameless until after the fest is complete.
> 
> Song Prompt - Words - Boyzone.  
> Pairing - Ginny Weasley/Vincent Crabbe.  
> Anarchy Round Assignment - Head Boy/Girl.

  
  


**A smile an everlasting smile**

**A smile can bring you near to me**

  
  


Ginny Weasley could remember the exact moment she started to question her opinion of Vincent Crabbe as clearly as if it were yesterday. She had been sitting in her bedroom at The Burrow, staring blindly out of the window at the glorious sunset. The sky was putting on it’s best show, painting a rainbow of brilliant colors across the heavens and yet she was oblivious to it all. Pinks, oranges, reds, blues, and swirling cotton wool clouds were clashing dramatically above her, but all Ginny could see was the blank emptiness of her mind.

An unknown owl had swooped through the late summer evening and in through her open window. Ginny watched in numb confusion as it landed on the desk in front of her. She stared at it, wondering why it had come and what she needed to do about it. She seemed to have lost the ability to function normally at the moment. The owl hooted to get her attention and her frozen brain had finally realized she should probably see what it was carrying.

Ginny had blinked and untied the roll of parchment from its leg, and sensing there were no good owl treats or affection on offer, the creature had turned tail and disappeared into the glowing sunset once more. 

Ginny had frowned suspiciously at the parchment. It was rough and slightly shabby looking, and she hadn't recognized the untidy writing addressing the letter to her. She'd unrolled the parchment and stared in confusion at the long letter.

  
  


**_Dear Ginny._ **

**_The rehab scheme I am attending has given me your name and address to write to as part of my treatment. They say you have volunteered to mentor somebody. I have no idea why you would want to help someone from the opposing side of the war after all that you have been through, and I am quite sure you will want nothing to do with me once you realize who I am. I fully expect you to set fire to this letter as soon as you receive it._ **

**_I wouldn’t blame you for that in the slightest. Anyway, here goes nothing._ **

**_I’ve deferred my return to Hogwarts for a year. I’m told you have too. Grief over your brother in your case, I'm told. For what it’s worth I'm sorry. I’m sorry you lost him. I’m sorry for a lot of things. Mostly I’m sorry that I didn’t die in the Fiendfyre I cast in the Room of Requirement like I deserved to._ **

**_Anyhow, part of my rehab and community service states that I write once a week to someone. They asked me who I wanted that to be and gave me a list of volunteers. Your name was on the list so I chose you. For years I've watched you from the shadows. I noticed your smile first. Your smile is beautiful. I never spoke much in school so I couldn’t tell you that personally, not that it would have mattered, you hated me, and you had good reason for that._ **

**_I’m not terribly good at talking at all, to anyone, but my mother was a poet and I hope I have inherited some of her talents at writing. I’m sorry Ginny, so very, very sorry for the things I did. I was caught up in things I didn’t understand. I made some stupid and awful decisions that hurt people and I was wrong. So very, very wrong._ **

**_I want to make things better. I want to change but I don't know how._ **

**_All I can promise you is that I’m trying. My return address is on the reverse of this parchment, if you don’t want to correspond I understand._ **

**_Yours hopefully,_ **

**_Vincent Crabbe._ **

Ginny had stared at the letter in shock for a very, very long time. The clock in the hall chimed midnight, the clock she could no longer look at because it no longer held her  brother's hand. Fred’s hand had left the clock the moment his soul had left his body and like the clock, Ginny knew her heart would never be whole again.

She hasn't replied to the letter. A million emotions had torn through her that night, swirling feelings, churning hatred, and grief so strong that it threatened to destroy her. She had not slept a single wink.

A week later he had written again. And the next week. And the next. Ginny began to look forwards, in a strange way, to receiving his letters. 8 pm on a Tuesday evening, without fail. The first few were all the same; apologizing for his misdeeds and detailing his attempts to find solace and redemption. Letter number six contained a small lumpy package with the words “Do not open until you have read the letter” written on it.

  
  


**Don't ever let me find you gone**

**Because that would bring a tear to me**

  
  


**_Dear Ginny,_ **

**_I’m told you still haven’t contacted the scheme to tell me to stop writing to you. This letter finds me a little desperate. I have no one else to turn to. My parents have disowned me, they wish nothing more to do with me as I am repentant and want to turn away from their cause. My father is in Azkaban, my mother is in custody awaiting trial. Neither of them will renounce their beliefs. Greg is trying to find his own path to redemption, as is Draco. Neither of their paths includes me. I don't want to sound desperate but I'm clinging on Ginny, I'm clinging on to life and using you as a lifeline._ **

**_I can't imagine how you must be feeling about this, but you haven't told me not to write. I'm enclosing a portkey. It's wrapped in parchment because it's permanently active. If you touch it, it will bring you to me._ **

**_If you don’t come I understand but please, don’t ask me to stop writing to you now. I don’t think I could cope with being all alone in the world._ **

**_Vince._ **

  
  


Again, she couldn’t answer the letter. She didn’t ignore it though. Instead she carried it everywhere, reading and re-reading it as she cut herself off from her family and friends. Vincent’s letters became her lifeline. She carried them in her pocket and slept with them under her pillow. Just to have someone who shared her pain, who seemed to be having as hard a time as she was, was strangely comforting. Everybody else in her world seemed to be getting slowly better, healing in their own personal ways.

She seemed to be getting worse. There was nothing to live for. She did nothing, saw nothing through her eyes, heard nothing with her ears, and felt nothing with her soul. She no longer cared about anything, and she had resorted to harming herself just to feel something, and to be reminded that she was human. The intense pain that accompanied the release of the cut was better than the eternal numbness. She felt alive when she caused herself pain, it was the one thing that actually felt real. 

If the truth be told she was clinging to receiving Vincent’s letters as much as he seemed to be clinging to writing them.

__

**This world has lost its glory**

**Let's start a brand new story now my love**

  
  


**_Dear Ginny,_ **

**_I don’t think I can do it anymore. There’s nothing left for me to live for, I think I’m done with this cruel world. I’ll leave it up to you. You haven’t answered me once. I understand. I won’t write again. You have my address if you want to contact me please do._ **

**_Thanks for listening_ **

**_Vince._ **

  
  


That night she wrapped a towel around her wrist and told the owl to wait while she penned a reply.

  
  


**_Dear Vincent._ **

**_I may not have replied, but I have read each and every one of your letters. I carry them with me wherever I go. You have given me something to hold on to when everything else has seemed desperate. I’m sorry for not writing back, I was a coward, too consumed by my own grief to cope with anything else._ **

**_Please don’t give up. Hold on a little longer. I’ve been close to giving up myself recently. We can make it through this. Maybe we can’t pull ourselves out on our own. Maybe we can help each other do it though. It's time I started to do the same as you are doing, maybe it's time for us to pull together to turn this around._ **

**_Please, hold on just a little longer,_ **

**_Ginny._ **

**You think that I don't even mean a single word I say**

**It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.**

  
  


His reply came less than an hour later.

  
  


**_Dear Ginny._ **

**_Thank you for your reply. I held on. I didn’t do it. I hope you know I'm sincere. I regret my past actions so much, I'm trying so hard to become a better person. You have no reason to believe me, but I, in turn, have no reason to lie. I’ve already lost everything, and all I have left is the ability to write a few words to a beautiful witch who probably thinks I'm lying through my teeth._ **

**_Maybe one day I'll be able to convince you that I've changed. Maybe one day you'll look at me in a new light. Maybe one day you'll be able to forgive me._ **

**_Your reply means the world to me, I don’t have much to offer the world right now, just my written words and my dreams of redemption._ **

**_Nobody believes me, that’s fine, I don’t expect them to. I’m holding on though. I’m holding on for you._ **

**_V._ **

  
  
  


**_Dear Vince._ **

**_I believe you. I lost so much during the battle and the war. I nearly lost myself too. If you can do it, so can I._ **

**_G._ **

  
  


They had continued exchanging letters all night. When the original owl looked exhausted he simply sent a different one. When that one had had enough she crept downstairs and sent Ron’s. Nobody knew what she was doing, she could never have told anyone who she was corresponding with, yet somehow the illicit letters were making her feel better. 

They fell into a routine of writing to each other. The letters got longer, the sentiments in them got deeper. He became her lifeline, as much as she was his.

One night he asked her to use the coin. She wrote a note to her parents, explaining where she was in case they came into her room in the night and found her gone. The note was a lie of course but she didn’t care. There was little she cared about these days. She dressed and brushed her teeth for the first time all day and picked up the coin. The familiar pull of portkey apparition jerked her navel and she stumbled as she landed. 

Strong hands picked her up and she steadied herself, looking at him in the moonlight. “Hi,” she said and he smiled shyly, nodding instead of speaking a greeting and refusing to look her in the eye. “You look different.” He nodded, still looking at the floor. “How are you?” she tried again as he flickered his eyes to hers, briefly making eye contact and looking away again. 

She stood back and looked at him. He did look very different indeed. He had always been big, and possibly a little on the overlarge side but he had obviously been working out because he didn’t look that way anymore. Ginny took a breath, berating herself for looking at him physically when so far their connection had been so emotional, but then she realized, he had talked of bettering himself in his letters, and that had obviously included getting fitter in the healthy sense, rather than working out for vain reasons. He looked toned and powerful now, strong, and really quite intimidating if it wasn’t for the anxious body language and the shyness and uncertainty that was rolling off him in waves.

“Thank you for coming.” His voice was quiet and higher pitched than she remembered and it seemed at odds with his physical presence, but then again she hadn’t heard him speak much before now. 

“Thank you for writing.” She countered. “It helped me to get through some very tough times.”

“Really?” She nodded, looking around and wondering where they were. “I’m glad. Your letter did the same for me. This is my parent’s estate.” He said, in answer to her unasked question, kicking at a stone on the ground. “Crabbe Manor. Apparently now that they're both in Azkaban, it's mine.”

“Wow!” She didn't know what else to say. It was pitch dark and all she could see was an inky black lake, the rippling water glinting in the moonlight as it lapped gently at the stony shores. 

“I’m not very good at talking.” He admitted, dipping his head again. “Especially to girls. I’m better at writing if I'm honest.”

“Why don’t you give talking to me a try?” she asked. “I’m told I’m pretty good at listening, and it’s only words after all.”

**Talk in everlasting words**

**And dedicate them all to me**

  
  


And so he did. Over the next few weeks, they met regularly by the lake, at nighttime, in secret, and talked. Vince told her all about his life. All about growing up with his parents' values, about following Voldemort, and about his regrets and shame.

Ginny told him about her time in the Chamber of Secrets in her first year at Hogwarts and how the memories of that had never truly left her. She told him about her fears for her family during the war, her all-consuming grief at the loss of Fred, her isolation since the battle, her devastation when Harry had left her, and the rather unhealthy ways she had found to help her cope.

Vince let her talk. Every time they met they grew more comfortable in each other's company. They would sit on the shores of the lake and she would rest her head on his shoulder while they watched the sky and the stars. He became better at talking himself and opened up to her in a way that surprised them both. 

He stopped drinking so much because she asked him to, and she mostly stopped harming herself on his wishes. He gently washed and wrapped her cuts in bandages when she came to him crying after a particularly difficult day, or after a memory had triggered her and caused her to regress. Their bond became very strong.

Over time he gained confidence in himself. His speech became easier and he laughed more, as did she. He continued to look after himself, working out, and learning more about the world around him. He developed an interest in herbology and magical creatures and he credited Ginny for saving his life.

Ginny in turn credited him with inspiring her to restart her quidditch training and to reignite her aspirations to play professionally. She found a local team and joined, going along to training three times a week and remembering how much she loved to fly.

She was starting to think about him more and more. When they were apart she missed him. When they were together she never wanted to leave him and he claimed to feel exactly the same about her.

She started to think about returning to Hogwarts and finishing her studies, although presently the thought alone was enough to make her head spin. She broached the subject with Vince one early June evening, sitting by the lake watching the swallows swoop low to catch flies over the sparkling water, and asked if he would return with her.

  
  


**And I will give you all my life**

**I'm here if you should call to me**

He was apprehensive. He didn’t think he would be welcome. Ginny encouraged him to write to Professor McGonagall and ask. The letter they wrote together listed his reasons for wanting to return, along with his many apologies and regrets, the terms of his parol that he was abiding by, and the glowing references from his rehabilitation program team. It included a recommendation from the program leader that he be accepted and stated that he was the most successful student to pass through their schemes to date.

Minerva McGonagall didn’t hesitate to accept him, both he and Ginny would be starting on September the 1st.

As head boy and girl.

Vince had nearly fallen over when they had received that particular owl. It had taken him nearly a week to regain the ability to speak. They would be sharing a dorm and the responsibility of unifying the other houses. McGonagall understood that it would be tough for them both, but those were her terms. If he was serious about his rehabilitation and redemption, and Ginny was serious about resuming her studies with him by her side, then this was her price. 

He looked at Ginny, his brown eyes terrified. “You can do it. We can do it, we’ll do it together Vince. It’s going to be hard for me too. And he had nodded, trusting her as he seemed to do so easily, and she had felt her soul shift as they stared wistfully into each other’s eyes and the sun set, once more unseen over the lake. 

  
  


**You think that I don't even mean a single word I say**

**It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away**

  
  


August ended in a blaze of sunshine and a haze of sultry heat. Ginny and Vince stood on the shores of the lake and stared at each other one blisteringly hot morning, shocked that their secret was finally out. Ron stood beside Ginny, staring incredulously at Vince as Vince stared back at him, the sun glinting in his newly grown out hair and panic rising in his expressive brown eyes. 

Ron had cornered Ginny in the garden of the Burrow early that morning as she had fed the chickens, and demanded to know what was going on. He had noticed her night-time disappearances and daytime sleeping habits. He was aware that owls were winging into and out of her bedroom window at all hours of the day and night, and he had become suspicious that she was in a relationship that she needed to hide. For a while, he had covered for her with the rest of the family. 

He had also seen her grow gradually happier over the previous weeks and had caught her smiling secretly to herself on several occasions. Now he wanted to know what was going on. 

So she had told him. Sitting on the grass, watching the gnomes caper around the neglected flower beds and the chickens pick insects out of the overly long grass, she had taken a leap of faith and told him all about the letters, and the portkey, and the late-night visits. Ron had listened in the way he had learned to do since the battle. He was different now. He no longer lost his temper and threw his weight around at the slightest inconvenience. The war and the loss of Fred had changed him, as had his newly reignited relationship with Hermione. Despite their near-constant past bickering they were currently getting on well and Ginny was glad to see him happy.

He said he wanted the same for her. Ginny was about to find out if that were true. 

She had told her brother some of the things she had been going through, and about the friendship she had recently developed. She told Ron how it was helping her and how because of it she was regaining the will to live.

Then she had dropped the bombshell and whispered Vince’s name. 

For a long time Ron had said nothing, just watched the clouds billowing across the azure blue sky. He had fixed her in his equally brilliant blue gaze and nodded. “I’ve noticed how you’ve been Ginny, the last year or so. All of us have been worried sick about you and you’ve not let any of us close enough to help. If he’s got through to you, if he’s the reason you’re getting better I’ll suspend my judgement for now. Take me with you to see him.” He had challenged. “If you're serious, and you want my support on this, then take me and show me how much he’s changed. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

A quick owl to Vince had arranged things and now, here they were. And suddenly she was bitterly regretting the idea.

“I said I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it, Gin.” Ron said, his voice rising semi hysterically despite his best efforts and his earlier promises to remain calm, “and now I’m seeing it I still can’t bloody believe it.” It seemed the sight of Vincent had triggered something inside of him and he was unable to control his reaction. “You!” Ron pointed his wand threateningly at Vince and he backed away nervously, “You tried to fucking kill us! You tried to use the  _ killing curse _ on my _ girlfriend! _ The things you’ve  _ done! _ ”

“Ron!” Ginny shrieked, “You promised!” But Ron was staring at Vince, his eyes suddenly aflame with hatred, and his breathing ragged with fury. Vincent said nothing, just nodded, dropped his eyes to the floor, and backed up another step. He was twice the size of Ron and could probably snap him in half with his little finger, but the temper flaring in the balmy sunshine was all Ron. Vince nodded again and looked sadly at the floor. 

“I’m sorry.” He said, “truly sorry.”

“You could at least look at me when you're talking to me if you expect me to believe a word you say that is!”

“Sorry.” He muttered again, “Eye contact is a bit difficult. I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to believe my apologies, no one does except maybe Ginny. I was an idiot, I was stupid, I was-”

“A fucking murderous bully is what you were,” Ron said viciously but even his volatile temper was calming now. Vince said nothing more, just turned and walked slowly away as Ginny ran after him, grabbed his hand, and turned him around to face her. He refused to look at her as well, instead focusing on a point just above her ear. Her heart constricted painfully, she’d thought he’d gotten over this, with her at least. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, shook his head, and tried to walk away once more. 

“Don’t you dare go silent on me now Vincent Crabbe!” Ginny said, fighting back her tears as she held him in place, “I believe you’re sorry and that you’ve changed because you’ve shown me it’s true. I’ve seen the real you. Ron, I am going to fucking kill you with my bare hands if you break your promise, this man here saved my life! I was almost suicidal. I had no one! I did this, look!” she dropped the glamour on her arms and waved both of them in front of her brother. Ron reeled in shock as she finally gave away her deepest secret. Her pale skin was now crisscrossed by a myriad of silver-white scars, all bearing testament to the depths of her recent despair. ”I did that because I was desperate. Do you know how it feels to lay flat out on the bathroom floor, screaming, crying, and knowing that you are at the limits of your endurance and can’t take one more moment of the God-forsaken hell that has become your life? Do you know how that feels?”

Dumbfounded Ron stared at her and slowly shook his head. “Do you know,” she took a great gulp of air, and swiped at the tear that had spilled from her shining eyes, “Do you know how it feels to release that pain, that pressure, to suddenly  _ feel  _ something when the world around you has gone numb? Do you know how the shame feels afterward? When you see what you’ve done to yourself? Do you Ron? Do you know how it feels to know that there’s not a single person close to you who understands what you’re doing and why, or who is able to help? And then can you imagine how it feels to portkey to someone who doesn’t judge? Who just opens his arms and lets you cry against his strong chest and wraps strong arms around you while your blood mingles with your tears and suddenly you feel perfectly safe for possibly the first time since this whole fucking mess started when you were 11 years old? Do you have any idea how that feels?” 

“I had no one, Ron. No one. Nobody to hear me cry. Nobody to hear me beg the world for some kind of release, I was at rock bottom, clinging on by a thread and nobody knew. I didn’t have the words to tell anyone, I just plastered a smile on my face, glamoured my scars, and smiled. I was eleven Ron when this started, and no one knew what I was going through all these years.”  Ginny’s voice had grown quieter and shakier as her tirade continued. She finally talked herself out and collapsed forwards into Vince’s chest, his arms coming around her as they always did as she sniffed and tried to steady her ragged breathing. Vincent tipped his head down, tucking her in tighter so that she felt completely surrounded by him and protected from the world.

Ron was staring at them open-mouthed, as if he’d never seen his sister before. “What the bloody hell is going on here?” He sank weakly down onto the log where Ginny had spent so many evenings sitting under a warming charm talking to Vince. “When the  _ hell _ did you fall in love with him Ginny?”

At that, she pulled back in confusion, and Vince’s soft eyes flickered to hers in shock as she took in another shaky breath. She could almost hear his heart pounding and she could feel his soft pants fanning over her skin. “When we talked.” She said softly, realizing for the first time that it was true. She had fallen head over heels in love with this man, the one who had stolen her heart with his words, both written and spoken. “When he listened to me and quietly bandaged my cuts and said nothing about it. When he wiped my tears softly and read me poetry in the moonlight.”

“Merlin bloody fuck.” Ron said, appealing to the heavens for some support. “And you? When did you fall in love with my sister?”

Vince abandoned all attempts to hold her eyes. He looked down as he spoke and tried once more to pull away but Ginny held him tightly still. “Fifth year.” He muttered. “When your house team beat Slytherin at quidditch. You were both playing because Potter was banned. You were playing seeker Ginny, and you snatched the snitch from right under Draco’s nose. You were so alive, so full of fire, I told you in my first letter, it was your smile that I noticed. It lit up the room. You were so beautiful then, and even more so now I know you. Now I know it’s not just your smile that’s beautiful, your heart is too. I might have done something for you, but you showed me that light and beauty still exist in this world. You taught me that I didn't need to find solace in a firewhiskey bottle. You taught me that it was okay to have the voice I never knew I had. You taught me that it was okay to carry on, to wake up in the morning to fight another day. You saved my life.”

Tears slipped unbidden down Ginny’s cheeks. Vince looked down at her and she tipped her chin up, looking up at him, fully expecting Ron to shout in protest as he usually did when he saw her kiss someone.

Ron’s dumbfounded silence was all she needed to bring her lips up to meet Vince’s. He didn’t seem to know what to do, he stood, frozen as she brushed her lips over his and a small noise escaped the back of his throat. He looked down and kissed her tentatively back. He was obviously unsure of what he was doing and his hesitancy was her undoing. She kissed him harder and he finally pulled her in tighter to him, kissing her back with all the love and care he had previously put into his words.  When they pulled apart, Ron looked dazed. “Bloody hell Gin,” he said weakly, “Mum’s going to go  _ mental  _ when you bring  _ him _ home to the Burrow! And Harry? What about Harry?”

“Harry left me, Ron, left me all alone without a second thought.”

“I’m not sure that’s entirely true, he’s had a hell of a lot of thoughts about you believe me. Harry’s in a bit of a mess himself at the moment-”

“I’m sorry if he’s in a mess, but so was I, and the one person who’s stepped up to help me was the boy who was supposedly the evilest of the lot. It seems he’s not like that anymore.

“No. I suppose things can change,” Ron agreed, still looking rather dazed.

And that was how Ron ended up accompanying Ginny Weasley and Vincent Crabbe to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies on a blisteringly hot day one week before the start of the new school term.

  
  


**This world has lost its glory**

**Let's start a brand new story now my love**

  
  


Hogwarts was basking in the last rays of the evening sun when Ginny floo’ed into headmistress McGonagall’s office. She stepped forwards, blinking in the dim light as Vince stumbled into the room behind her. The headmistress greeted them both with a tight-lipped smile. “Miss Weasley. Mr. Crabbe. How nice to see you both.”

“It’s nice to see you too Professor.” Ginny smiled, although her heart was pounding and her mind was whirling from physically stepping back into Hogwarts. Vince smiled, his eyes downcast as ever. They had arrived a full two days before the other students so that they could settle in and miss the journey on the Hogwarts express. Neither of them had felt able to cope with that and various owls had been exchanged to work out this alternative plan. 

Professor McGonagall eyed them both shrewdly. “I received a very interesting letter from your brother Miss Weasley,” she said, holding up a piece of parchment covered in Ron’s familiar, untidy scrawl. “He seems to be extremely supportive of you both, in fact, I was most surprised to read his glowing endorsement of you, Mr. Crabbe, especially given how things…. Ended. It seems that you are doing very well in your rehabilitation.”

Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise, making a mental note to write to thank Ron for his help. He had been different with Ginny since they had opened their hearts on the shores of the lake a week ago. He had looked at her differently, treated her differently and for that she was grateful. To have his support meant the world to her. She had a vague feeling that he had confided in Charlie as well, but that was for another time. 

Vince said nothing, his silence revealing his nerves. “I feel it wise to inform you that several other students will be returning to Hogwarts tomorrow, having also deferred school for a year like yourselves,” Professor McGonagall informed them, walking around to her desk and picking up another piece of parchment. “Mostly they are boys from Slytherin house. Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle among them. For similar reasons to yourselves they have requested to arrive tomorrow and not on the Hogwarts express the day after.”

She handed them the parchment. The list was made up almost entirely of Slytherin boys, the only other additions were Luna Lovegood and Hannah Abbott. Suddenly Ginny felt very lonely. Nobody from Gryffindor was returning, her fellow housemates had all finished their studies the previous year, minus Ron and Harry who had gone straight into the Auror program. Ginny’s mouth was dry as she handed the list to Vince and she sighed. It looked as if he was going to be surrounded by his old friends, while she was in danger of having nobody once again. She hadn’t seen Luna in over a year and the thought of seeing her again was panic-inducing rather than comforting, and she didn’t know Hannah Abbott particularly well at all.

Ginny felt Vince’s hand tighten on her arm and turned to look at him, expecting to see him look pleased but instead his face mirrored her concern. “I haven’t seen anyone on this list since the battle,” he said quietly. “They don’t know who I am now. In fact, I doubt any of them ever did know who I really was.”

“Which is why you are going to show them the brave, strong young man standing before me now.” Professor McGonagall said. “All the students on this list have shown the same qualities of regret as you have Mr. Crabbe, and they have all shown a desire for redemption and change. Believe me, they would not have been allowed back here with anything less. The rest of the school will be educated as such and no discrimination will be tolerated towards any of you.”

Professor McGonagall looked at them both closely, her usually severe face sad. “You were mere children who were not given a choice in the direction your lives were steered or the events you faced. I intend to rectify that now. Mr. Crabbe, you have glowing references from everyone who has been involved with you over the last year. You have been made head boy for that reason. This is your chance to prove yourself. I suggest you take it. Follow me.”

With that Professor McGonagall marched out of her office and along the corridor. Ginny and Vince trotted along behind her, Ginny’s heart lurched so often at the familiar sights of the school and the heartbreaking memories that it triggered that she thought it might jump right out of her chest. They descended stairs, walked along corridors and passages and finally came to a stop in front of a new tapestry showing the four Hogwarts founders enjoying a meal together.

Professor McGonagall tapped her wand to the sorting hat which was pictured, smart and new, sitting proudly on its own chair at the table, and the tapestry pulled back and a door swung open revealing a cozy, round common room. “Your living quarters. We thought it best  not to confine the returning deferred students to house dormitories, but for you to have your own common quarters. You are all of age after all. Girls to the right, boys to the left. You may transfigure the space however you choose. The password to the door is Unity. I shall leave you to settle in. Good day to you both.”

She left the room, closing the door behind her with a resounding bang. Ginny let out a long breath and stared around her. The room was circular, light, and airy and contained several oversized and brightly colored bean bag chairs, comfortable sofas, and single armchairs. There was a fireplace and a large picture window overlooking the lake. To one side was a small kitchen and several dark wooden doors. 

Ginny opened the one labeled Head Girl/Boy and stared in shock. The first room contained a four-poster bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a small desk and chair, and a second door. Ginny rushed through and pulled the second door open to reveal a small bathroom and yet another door on the far side. Opening that revealed another bedroom identical to the first. She felt Vince follow her and step into the room behind her, and she backed up, bumping accidentally into him. 

He stiffened, as if unsure what to do as she stilled against him. She heard him take a deep breath, his nose buried in her hair. “Strawberries?” he asked quietly and she nodded. “You smell lovely.”

“Thank you.” She whispered shyly, suddenly aware that this was the first time she had been alone with him away from the lake at Crabbe Manor. She turned slowly, trying to stay in contact with him, wishing he would wrap his arms around her. There was something about his strength, the sheer solidness of him that made her feel safe and protected from the world. Whatever was out there, whatever she had to face, she knew that if she could return to his arms at the end of it, then she would be okay. She could survive anything if he was there beside her. 

“Sandlewood?” She guessed, holding her nose to him and breathing him in to break the silence. He nodded. “Cedar?” That was a no. “Musk?” He nodded again. “You smell nice too. Vince?”

“Yes?”

“You can hold me if you want.” Her voice shook as she said it, wondering how he would respond. His arms surrounded her in a familiar cocoon and she was able to relax for the first time since stepping into the floo to start her journey to Hogwarts. She sighed in relief and snuggled against him. “This is our new start. We can make this story our own now. Our pasts are our pasts, we can’t change those, but we can start anew and write our own futures.”

He nodded, and she looked up again to find him smiling softly down at her. “I never, ever thought I’d get this chance, Ginny. I never thought I’d be here, with you. I thought my life was over. Thank you for believing in me.”

“I should say the same to you.”

“Can I kiss you?” She nodded as he brushed his fingers into her long silky hair, moving it out of the way and watching as it caught the setting sun and fell like flames down her back. She was beautiful. He drank her in, her pale skin, the smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, her full pink lips, and her tiny frame. He looked into her eyes properly, and she was struck by the emotions swirling in his liquid brown gaze.

“Why don't you like eye contact?” She asked before she could stop herself. “You have beautiful eyes.”

“So do you. I can only do it for a short while, I don't know why, it's uncomfortable. It’s prickly. Your eyes are beautiful. I'll try to do it more for you.”

She shook her head. “Not if it's uncomfortable. I just love your eyes, they’re so expressive and-” anything else she was going to add was lost in his kiss. He was uncertain again, tentative as she stretched up to meet him and press her lips against his. “Have you kissed anyone before me?” she asked, struck again by how hesitant he seemed. He shook his head. She sucked in a breath. “May I?”

This time he nodded and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his, flicking her tongue against his mouth, asking for access. As he yielded to her she slipped her tongue against his and he whimpered, letting her show him the way. When she pulled back he was smiling softly and he ran the tip of his tongue over his lips, gently tasting her and smiling softly. 

**You think that I don't even mean a single word I say**

**It’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.**

  
  


They spent the rest of the evening unpacking and sitting in the picture window, watching the dark lake and reminiscing. Vince helped her to put her things away and when she returned the favor she looked curiously through his possessions. “No broomstick?” she queried.

“I can't fly. Well, I can, but I'm rubbish. I fall off and it’s uncomfortable and I don’t really like heights.” He admitted. She stroked his arm as he paused. “Also there was-” he broke off, looking haunted all of a sudden, “The Fiendfyre. That was the last time I was on a broom, it was your brother’s actually. He pulled me onto his broom and saved me, despite what I’d done-”

“Shhhh I know. It’s okay. Can I teach you to fly? Properly? It’s amazing, swooping through the sky first thing in the morning with only the birds for company, or at dusk, through the setting sun?”

“I’d like that.” He nodded, “Then maybe we could fly together?” He sounded so unsure, so hopeful that her heart melted.

“Of course.” She poked through his things a bit more and found a guitar. “I didn’t know you could play?” He smiled and nodded as her eyes lit up, “Really? It’s my favorite instrument. Can you play me something?” he nodded and picked the guitar up, crossing to a sofa and sitting down and nestling the guitar into him. 

“What would you like to hear?”

“Surprise me,” she said, and he did. Yet again. He played beautifully, plucking the strings and strumming softly, creating a haunting melody that was both sad and hopeful at the same time. Ginny’s heart swelled with what could only be love as she watched him lose himself to the music. “That was amazing.” She smiled wistfully as he finished. “Another hidden talent of yours. Can you teach me to play in return for the flying lessons?”

“Of course.” He said and turned to face her again on the sofa. This time he didn't ask, he slipped an arm around her and kissed her the way she had shown him earlier. She melted against him, feeling the rest of the world slip away as it always did when she was in his arms. 

Ginny sighed, contentment washing over her like a warm, comforting wave. Whatever came their way as they moved into the new school year as head boy and girl, they would face it together and nothing had ever felt more right to Ginny than this moment, here, on this sofa, with this most unexpected of boys. 

It had started with words, all those months ago. Written words that had first sparked her interest, then spoken ones that had captured her soul. What had developed between them now transcended those words. It was powerful feelings for both of them now, heart and soul-deep feelings that held the power to heal them both.

Somehow this quiet and soulful boy had become a part of her, and she had become a part of him without her even realizing what was happening. He had stolen her heart quietly and gently and she hadn’t even needed to try to take his in return. He had already given his heart to her freely, a long time ago. 

  
  


**It’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.**

  
  


The thing is, Ginny thought, as they half sat, half lay on the sofa wrapped up in each other's arms, in the end, neither of them had needed to try. Their new story had already begun.


End file.
